The Neighbors Reveal Programming For Ninth Season Including a World Premiere & More

What Will the Neighbors Say? has revealed programming for their ninth season (September 2024-June 2025), including a world premiere, a residency with NYU, the launch of their flagship writer's program and ongoing community and education programming. Under the leadership of Co-Artistic Directors Sam Hood Adrain and James Clements, the company is thrilled to be announcing a number of new and dynamic programs.

The Neighbors will launch their year-long residency at NYU's Espacio de Culturas where, in collaboration with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives and Tamiment Labour Archives, they will further develop "At the Barricades." Helmed by Federica Borlenghi and written by Clements and Hood Adrain, the source-based play explores the international troops that fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War. The Director of the Centre, Jordana Mendelson, said "We are thrilled the Neighbours are joining us as Artists-in-Residence for this year. They will work with Espacio de Culturas @ KJCC on research, creative development, programming and curation, and we feel they are a perfect fit for our center and for NYU, especially given the connections they will be drawing between the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive and Spanish Civil War materials in NYU's special collections and their research into theater, history and memory for "At the Barricades"". Following the residency, "At the Barricades" will have its world premiere in New York in Summer 2025, ahead of an international tour in 2026.

The Neighbors were recently awarded the Brooklyn Art Council's 2024 Creative Equations Fund: Justice, Equity, Sustainability + Performing Arts grant of $10,000 to begin the program. New to the Neighborhood is made possible with funds from the Howard Gilman Foundation, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council. This grant will fund the first cycle of two emerging artists, who will be awarded a $1.5k cash grant, in addition to a further $2.5k in funding for space, personnel, marketing and development, culminating in a staged reading of a new work produced by the Neighbors. Further program support was provided by IndieSpace. Applications open today, and close on Wednesday September 18th. Second round invitations will be sent in October, with the two selected artists being announced in November, ahead of their residencies at Chez Bushwick and MITU580.

The Neighbors will also be bringing back their beloved flagship community event, "storytime," for a special edition as part of The Six Foot Platform, a public arts project by the Dumbo Improvement District and the Brooklyn Arts Council, on Washington Street in Dumbo. The event will run 12pm-6pm on September 28th 2024. The event, which is free, features music, storytelling from participants and two MCs who keep everything moving. In between sets, audiences are encouraged to get up on stage and tell a story relating to the themes they suggest, creating an authentic and powerful collective experience. The only rule is that the story is true. The hosts will be Isuri Wijesundara and Keith Weiss, with live music by two Brooklyn-based artists, Savage the Poet and Sydni Dichter.

In addition to the return of "storytime," the Neighbors will host their annual holiday party in December, as well as presenting regular community programming across the season, including their winter event with their corporate partners, Tree Riders NYC.

The Neighbors are also continuing their education work. Clements and Hood Adrain are members of the Adjunct Faculty at Marymount Manhattan College, and will be presenting a 48-hour original play festival, "The Citizenship Cycle," from September 27th-29th on campus. The program is designed to facilitate reckoning and reconciliation in the face of another turbulent presidential election cycle in the United States. Guided by the Neighbors, the students will create original pieces exploring the ideas and values of democracy and citizenship (i.e. freedom of expression, freedom of press, voter rights, oppression), to disrupt, celebrate, challenge and critique the practice(s) of democracy and citizenship in this country. The final projects will be shared on campus on Sunday September 29th. Later in the Season, the Neighbors will also return to Barrington Stage Company as arts educators in their Playwright Mentoring Project for emerging young artists in the Berkshires, under the direction of the Theatre Education and Community Engagement lead Jane O'Leary.

Hood Adrain shared "It is always so exciting to announce a Neighbors season, as the programming is varied, dynamic and mission driven." "Sam and I are both so deeply committed to these plans, including the launch of new legacy programs to benefit our city, as well as our own creative work" added Clements. Julia Salazar, a Senator for New York State, said of the Neighbors and their upcoming programming, "I look forward to witnessing the transformative impact of this company's work on our city and am eager to collaborate in any way possible to see it flourish."

What Will the Neighbors Say? is an investigative theatre company that provokes questions through untold stories. Led by a collaborative cohort of International Artists, the Neighbors present overlooked social, cultural and historical narratives that challenge the audience to reflect on the current moment. Through a combination of original plays, arts education workshops and dynamic community gatherings, the troupe incites rowdy and rigorous debate at the theatre and throughout the Neighborhood.

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